Last year in February, UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, reported that “The conflict in Ukraine has deeply affected the lives of 580,000 children living in non-government controlled areas and close to the front line in eastern Ukraine.” Of those, 200,000 – or one in three – needed psychosocial support. More than 215,000 were internally displaced. At that time, Giovanna Barberis, UNICEF representative in Ukraine, stated: “Two years of violence, shelling and fear have left an indelible mark on thousands of children in eastern Ukraine. As the conflict continues, we need to reach these children urgently to meet their physical as well as psychological needs.”
Now, one year later, the news is even worse: 1 million children are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, according to UNICEF. “This is an invisible emergency – a crisis most of the world has forgotten,” Ms. Barberis said. (See the story published in our February 26 issue.) Some 1.7 million people are now internally displaced according to the agency. “Hundreds of daily ceasefire violations put children’s physical safety and psychological well-being at risk. The situation is particularly grave for the approximately 200,000 girls and boys living within 15 kilometers on each side of the ‘contact line’ in eastern Ukraine… In this zone, 19,000 children face constant danger from landmines and other unexploded ordnance, and 12,000 children live in communities shelled at least once a month.”
The result of all this violence: Teachers, psychologists and parents report signs of severe psychosocial distress among children, including nightmares, aggression, social withdrawal and panic triggered by loud noises, notes UNICEF. And hundreds have been injured or killed in the war since it began in the spring of 2014.
While Russia’s war on Ukraine rages on, the “separatist” authorities do not allow Ukrainian aid into the region, and they have barred most international organizations from operating there. To make matters worse, on March 1 we learned from wire service reports that Russian-backed rebels were taking over factories and mines in eastern Ukraine – many of them belonging to oligarch Rinat Akhmetov, whose foundation apparently is the largest provider of humanitarian aid to those affected by war in eastern Ukraine. (That was the response of the combined Russian-separatist forces to a blockade by some Ukrainian activists and war veterans that halted nearly all rail traffic in the Donbas. The blockade is opposed by the government in Kyiv.) A spokesman for Mr. Akhmetov said armed men took control of an arena in Donetsk that had served as a staging ground for relief efforts. “At the moment, we’re unable to deliver any humanitarian aid inside nongovernment-controlled territory,” Jock Mendoza-Wilson told RFE/RL.
According to the most recent (March 2) statements by the U.S. Mission to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, “Continued clashes have put civilians at grave risk. … Ukrainians living in the conflict area need real humanitarian relief.” The missions underscored: “Restrictions on aid organizations in separatist-held areas must also be lifted.”
Thankfully, there are those who have not forgotten the people of occupied Ukraine. The government of Italy on February 23 donated 1 million euros (about $1.05 million U.S.) to the United Nations World Food Program and UNICEF to assist the people in the war-torn Donbas. Meanwhile, UNICEF said it is appealing for $31.3 million for 2017 to provide health and nutrition support, education, clean water, hygiene and sanitation, as well as protection for children and families affected by the conflict. We pray that the world will respond and that Ukraine’s suffering children and their families receive the assistance they need.